"Tamils have right to make their own constitution" – Mavai

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 10 November 2004, 08:52 GMT]“The objective before us is to make our own constitution on the basis of our sovereignty, which is inalienable. We have the right to do it. The signing of the ceasefire agreement between the leader of the Tamil nation and the Prime Minister of the Sinhala nation proved that there are two states on this island”, said Mr. Mavai Senathirajah, Tamil National Alliance MP for Jaffna, speaking at the opening of the new building of the Thamil Eelam Law College in Kilinochchi Wednesday. The Thamil Eelam Law College was declared open by Ms. Adele Balasingham.

Mrs. Adele Balasingham cutting the ribbon

Mr. Mavai Senthirajah, TNA MP, unveiling a staute in the building

"Our legal experts proved at the Trial at Bar proceedings against the leaders of the Tamil United Liberation Front in 1976 that the Sinhala nation had no right to adjudicate in the affairs of the Tamils as they did not accede their sovereignty to the Sri Lankan constitution of 1972. Tamils had recourse to armed struggle because they lost faith in the Sinhala judicial system. President Chandrika Kumaratunga has been quoted in the press today as saying that the Sri Lankan judiciary and Police are the most corrupt institutions in the Sinhala country", Mr. Mavai Senathirajah said in his address.

Senior LTTE officials, civil society leaders, representatives of UNICEF, UNHCR, lawyers from Jaffna, Vavuniya, and Vanni attended the opening ceremony of the new building of the Thamil Eelam Law College, situated next to the Thamil Eelam Court complex by the A9 Highway in Kilinochchi.

"Our leader’s main objective was to establish and promote this college in order to produce legal experts and lawyers to uphold the Rule of Law so that our people can safeguard their rights. We want to raise the level of this college to match international standards. This endeavour has been greatly assisted by legal experts from abroad. We have already trained six batches of more than hundred and forty lawyers in our college", said Mr. E. Pararajasingham, head of Thamil Eelam Judiciary, speaking at the opening ceremony.

The Thamil Eelam Law College was established in 1991 in Jaffna. It was moved to Puthukudiyiruppu in Mullaithivu after the Sri Lanka army took control of the Jaffna peninsula in 1995.

Mr. P. Nadesan, Chief of Thamil Eelam Police Service and Dr. S. Somaskandan, of the LTTE’s International Secretariat in the Vanni also spoke at the function.